2009
Advanced Research
MITRE Helps Illuminate the Rising Area of Metamaterials
December 2009
Metamaterials form a new class of ordered composites that exhibit unusual properties like negative refraction. MITRE's Steven Best is authoring a paper for an IEEE magazine about how metamaterials can help advance antenna design techniques and improve warfighting.
MARIAAN Helps the Air Force "Fight Through" Cyber Attacks
November 2009
MITRE's Mission Aware Reporting of Information Assurance for Airborne Networks is a cybersecurity solution that enables the Air Force to protect its enclave networks by fusing mission information with details on security breaches.
Beyond Vaccination: A New Platform for Treating Infectious Disease
November 2009
MITRE's Juan Arroyo and his team are working with the Medical University of South Carolina to investigate how innovative antibody therapies could become a viable alternative to vaccines during flu pandemics.
Blurred Images Bring Surveillance into Sharper Focus
July 2009
Researchers from MITRE's Computational Imaging for Persistent Pervasive Surveillance project are investigating ways to design better digital surveillance cameras. Their goal: to allow the freedom to manipulate the image data at either the optical end or the processing end, depending on the user's needs.
Hammering Out IEDs—Detecting Explosives with Biologically Inspired Research
June 2009
Taking a cue from the electroreceptory organs of certain marine animals, MITRE's "Biologically Inspired Sensing" project is exploring the use of dielectric spectroscopy—the analysis of how electrical charge builds up and migrates through different materials—to detect explosive materials such as those used in IEDs.
Neuromorphic Computing: Teaching New Brains Old Tricks
May 2009
Designing computers that think like humans is difficult because computers and humans process information in fundamentally different ways. Researchers at MITRE and elsewhere are working to build computers with brain-like properties by creating new kinds of algorithms and microprocessors that replicate the features of biological brain circuits.
Nanopower: Big Energy for Tiny Systems
May 2009
As the increased capabilities and decreased sizes of electronic devices demand more and more from their strained power systems, new technologies must be found to increase their power and energy capacities. MITRE and researchers worldwide are using nanotechnology to provide that boost.
REACT Fine-Tunes Air Force Capabilities Before Live-Flying
April 2009
You're planning a complex military operation that uses air, sea, and ground assets to track multiple moving targets. How do you examine the best possible scenarios without spending a fortune? MITRE's REACT and REACT Online tools allow commanders to quickly and inexpensively test various scenarios using realistic, high-definition animations.
Merging Data for Better Decisions Under Pressure
March 2009
Connecting military forces to each other in the battlefield is vital, but it's just as crucial to manage the sometimes overwhelming data flow. A team of MITRE engineers is developing a chat tool that helps users ferret out the most important information.
When Robots Go to War
March 2009
MITRE is using its experience in robot systems engineering to develop large robots that could be used by the U.S. Army in future conflicts.
The Dynamics of Decisions: Modeling Sudden Changes in Group Behavior
March 2009
Many factors come into play when people make decisions. MITRE's Modeling Phase Change Behavior project is conducting simulations to better understand how the interactions between individual decisions and group identity affect the behavior of that group.
Hunting Dangerous Genes, Inbox by Inbox
February 2009
MITRE's DOTS program comes to the aid of a DNA-synthesis industry that falls short in addressing the unfortunate reality that the deadly ingredients of bio-weapons are readily available to anyone by email or online.
Immersive Vision Gives the Best Control to Military Robots
January 2009 
Guiding robots into complex urban environments can test the abilities of even the most agile operators. But thanks to the MITRE Immersive Vision System, operators can now "see" through the eyes of their robots, making the machines more useful than ever for keeping soldiers out of harm's way.
Beyond Breadcrumbs: Leader-Follower Shows the Way
January 2009
MITRE is using its experience in systems engineering and integration to develop large-scale leader-follower robots that don't require drivers. Using these robot teams in military convoys could take soldiers out of danger when supply vehicles must travel through hostile territory.
Aviation Systems
Green Air Space Design: Reducing Fuel Burn
October 2009
Can re-designing airspace save fuel for airlines? MITRE is looking at the benefits of reducing level-offs in terminal airspace, which could have the additional environmental benefit of reduced carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides.
A Successful Landing: Modeling Chicago's Airspace in Real Time
August 2009
A MITRE team worked with the Chicago Terminal Radar Approach Control and Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center to run human-in-the-loop scenarios to find solutions for easing congestion at O'Hare International Airport—one of the world's busiest.
TCAS: A Second Set of Eyes for Pilots
June 2009
TCAS, the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, has helped keep commercial and military aviation safe since 1990. Today MITRE is working to help TCAS evolve as the new airborne surveillance procedures and applications required by NextGen become operational.
Clear Skies for NextGen
June 2009
MITRE is working with the FAA to generate new concepts, develop new standards, and find new solutions to evolve and improve our national airspace system. These new concepts, standards, and solutions are known collectively as the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen.
Fusing Aviation Data: A New Approach to Keeping Skies Safer
April 2009
For the first time, airline black box flight data and pilot reports are being collected from 13 airlines and put into a single repository for safety analysis. MITRE is collecting the data for the FAA's initiative called Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing, or ASIAS.
Reducing Flight Delays by Managing Air Traffic Uncertainties
April 2009
When snow, high winds, or hail hit unexpectedly, air traffic managers must scramble to keep commercial flight delays to a minimum. With the help of decision support models developed at MITRE, flight traffic can flow more smoothly even when the weather turns bad.
Virtual Contrails: Modeling Air Traffic Control Over the Internet
February 2009
By taking simulation experiments out of the lab and onto the Internet, MITRE is expanding the available avenues for aviation research and development. Our important step forward is our partnership with VATSIM, a community of aviation enthusiasts who use the Internet to simulate the global aviation environment.
Defense and Intelligence
Predictive Heads-Up Display Compensates for Feedback Lag for Predators and Reapers
December 2009
Using a computer gaming engine, MITRE created a heads-up display that predicts a Predator's near-real time position over Afghanistan despite a two-second satellite round trip delay from the operator in Nevada to the aircraft and back.
Universal Core Advances Information Sharing Across Government Agencies
November 2009
MITRE is central to the development of UCore, a groundbreaking data exchange standard and messaging framework that supports the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The Largest Upgrade in AWACS History
September 2009
Block 40/45 is the largest upgrade ever for the E3-Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System—better known as AWACS. The vastly improved computing power helps automate what used to be a manually intensive workload for the AWACS operators.
Countering the Loss of Satellite Communications and GPS
September 2009
Threats to deny or degrade U.S. satellite communications and GPS have been growing for years. MITRE's "Operations Without Space" project is helping the DoD and intelligence community develop mitigation strategies to "operate through" the loss of space-based capabilities.
One Step Ahead: MITRE's Simulation Experiments Address Irregular Warfare
September 2009
Sophisticated simulation experiments at MITRE's Naval Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Experimentation Lab help the corporation's sponsors develop sharper, more integrated warfighting capabilities to counter irregular threats.
Protecting the Nation from Biological Threats
August 2009
MITRE plays a growing role in protecting the United States from biological threats. We are currently engaged in a number of biosecurity measures ranging from research to coordination to education.
Faster Information Sharing Gives Edge to Warfighters
July 2009
ISR—intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance—has never been so important in modern warfare. Faster information sharing between services leverages ISR assets to gain superiority over adversaries. To see how they can take advantage of these advances, commanders see the possibilities with a scripted scenario in MITRE's ACME lab.
Helping Iraq Fly Solo Again
July 2009
Working in partnership with Iraq Air Force officers and U.S. and coalition teams, MITRE has helped lay out a roadmap to pave the way for Iraq's air force to operate without U.S. or multinational assistance.
Instant Two-way Translation Helps Soldiers in the Field
May 2009
Using human interpreters to translate English into Arabic in Iraq is cumbersome, but with MITRE's TRANSTAC system, speech recognition and machine translation technology make the job a lot easier.
With Better Information, Unmanned Systems Steer Clear of Bad Weather
April 2009
Until recently, pilots who remotely fly Predator and Reaper unmanned aircraft have had trouble avoiding bad weather that can damage their aircraft. Being 7,000 miles away, the pilots can't see the weather around their aircraft. With a MITRE-developed weather information service, pilots now use forecast overlays on their displays to avoid thunderstorms and other turbulence.
Targeting the 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors
February 2009
A programmer's mistake at the keyboard can introduce a coding error that allows hackers to slip through a computer's defenses. Now, a new list of the Top 25 most dangerous programming errors from MITRE's Common Weakness Enumeration program aims to help government and industry avoid costly and harmful security breaches.
A Fresh START Improves Replanning for Recon Missions
January 2009
MITRE improved START (for Spatio-Temporal Analysis for Rapid Tasking) to maximize target coverage and minimize risk to unmanned aerial vehicles that are already in the air and must be retasked for time-critical missions.
MITRE's Security Standards Support Massive Government IT Alignment
January 2009
It's a challenge to keep millions of U.S. government computer systems safe from bugs and malicious attack. MITRE standards are playing a key role in a massive federal computer reconfiguration effort aimed at improving security.
Federal Sector Modernization
Smooth Moves: Helping Military Families Transition to New Homes
September 2009
Moving military families from one location to the next is a daily—but complex—occurrence and virtually no two moves are alike. A team from MITRE helped the U.S. Transportation Command streamline the process, which ultimately ensures easier moves for service personnel and their families.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Take Health IT Lead
August 2009
One of the key drivers in the move toward national healthcare reform is the growing need for standardized electronic health records. One of the key players is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is working with MITRE to transform its IT systems in advance of the coming wave of change.
Many Happy Returns: Gaining Converts to e-File
March 2009
Congress wants at least 80 percent of all taxpayers to file their taxes over the Internet—a process known as e-filing. Convincing the skeptical taxpayer to file electronically involves much more than technology, but MITRE and its IRS partners are on track to do just that.
Homeland Security
Technology Collaboration Improves Security for Boston's July 4th Celebration
October 2009
During Boston's Fourth of July celebration, crowd safety is monitored by the Unified Command Center (UCC) under the control of the Massachusetts State Police. To improve access control security to the UCC, advanced technology was developed by a team that included MITRE, the U.S. Air Force's Electronic Systems Center, Middlesex Community College, VideoIQ, Fenwick Technologies, and RFID Global Technologies.
Insider Threats: Countering Cyber Crime from Within
October 2009
A MITRE cybersecurity team, supported by I3P at Dartmouth College, uses double-blind experiments to research the social and behavioral aspects of malicious insiders who use their computer access to create data breaches and steal intellectual property.
